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TITHING - BEFORE THE LAW
A specific area within the topic of giving is tithing, of giving a tenth. There is a lot of evangelical teaching on the subject of tithing. Indeed, it is a Biblical teaching, but I want to find out what the Lord requires of us in these matters. You see, the response of many church leaders when you mention church finances (and I have had it said to me) is “Have you preached to them on tithing recently?” - “them” being the flock, reduced to some plebeian class who are there to provide the funds. “They” are my brothers and sisters in the Lord.
Anyway, you preach a message on tithing and everybody gives 10% and, if they covenant as well, you get the extra tax bonus too - the favour of a worldly government. And that is supposed to be doing the will of the Lord and living a good Christian life. The cults tithe. The self-important Pharisees tithed. Of itself, it is nothing. So let us look at what the Scriptures say.
The first idea we get in the Bible about giving a tenth is in the story of Abraham. I want you to see that Abraham was involved in a free act of worship. Nobody said to Abraham, “Hey, you’ve got to give a tenth of that to God,” or “You’ve got to give a tenth to God’s representative.” It was a free-will response. It was a free act of worship.
Look at Genesis 14 v 18! Abraham had just returned from the slaughter of the kings. He had won a tremendous victory and then, in verse 18, it says:
“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.”
First, note that Abraham (Abram as he then was) was blessed by Melchizedek. This king came out of Jerusalem, or Salem, and he blessed Abraham. He also brought out food, bread and wine to sustain him. There was blessing and provision from the Lord. Now, Melchizedek means “King of Righteousness”. He was also king of Salem which means “King of Peace.” This is who came out to bless Abraham and in response to the blessing which he received from this ‘King of Righteousness’ and ‘King of Peace’, Abraham gave tithes of all. The word ‘tithe’ is the Hebrew idea of a tenth.
Do you want to know what Abraham actually did? He gave everything. He kept nothing to himself. He gave tithes of all to Melchizedek and when the king of Sodom invited Abraham to retain the spoil for himself, Abraham refused to take anything for himself. He gave it all up. Are you keen to make a law for yourself out of the Scripture. Are you basing your giving of 10% on what Abraham did? Take note! Abraham gave 100%. Give it all!